The art of pain
by Jaur
Summary: AU After the academy exams the fight with Mizuki was interrupted. The result forced earlier decisions to be reconsidered and Naruto finds himself with a quite different sensei. Will his team survive the genin exam and walk the road that is chosen?


**Prologue****: Preparing the road**

Torture is a subtle art. To break a mind, making it willing to share its secrets to its enemy without destroying it so it becomes useless. But it is also rewarding if you can see the beauty of watching eyes turn from cold determination or blazing fury to tearful pleading, begging you to let them tell you there innermost secrets, betraying their friends and family.

It requires a special mindset and a not inconsiderable skill to succeed. Of course, the sign of true mastery is to be able to do it on the battlefield, in sight of the enemy when the client still nourish hope of rescue, and in time so that the information is still useful in the battle. Any fool with a beginner's manual and some patience can break a prisoner if he is secluded in a controlled environment for months without disturbances. But when the information is taken like this the enemy usually knows that you got it and can change their plans accordingly. No, for torture to be really useful, speed is of essence. Too bad so few are willing or able to study the art in al its subtlety and finesse. Those willing usually come to enjoy inflicting pain and loose sight on the true objective. While those able shudder at the mere mention of causing pain. There where so few of the true masters left and none of the youngsters they send him these days show any sight of understanding the...

The sudden silence in the room woke him from his thoughts as the screaming stopped. With a sigh he looked down on the chuunin before him and took careful notice of his fast breathing and flushed face. Yes, definitely one of the pleasure seekers he thought. Wiping a few bloodstains from his face he waved to the ANBU in attendance to take away the messy corpse of the now dead Iwa genin that the volunteer had used to demonstrate his skill. Well, they already knew what he might have told them so this was just another failure in the search for a worthy successor. What the leaders of today don't understand is that to succeed you have to really understand the client. The ones who enjoy or are indifferent to the pain of the client will never really be able to learn the true skill, no, what was needed was a deep sense of empathy. Torture works both way after all, both on the client and the torturer and in this case the client had won. He looked down with disgust on the chuunin then shocked his head and without a word turned and left the room.

Ever since word came back that his partner and friend had died in a raid they had buggered him about training a replacement and successor seeing that he was now the only expert left in Konoha. However every candidate was worse than the previous and lacked even the most basic requirements, not to mention that if he finally found a teachable student he would problably break under the pressure within a year. No one exists in a vacuum after all, not even a torturer. With another sigh Moriro Ibiki left the building walking towards the hokage tower ignoring the fearful looks the ninja and villagers alike gave him in the streets. Perhaps this time Saturobi would listen.

oOoOo

Three days later:

At 4:30 in the morning the hokage tower seemed silent and dead. Not even the patrolling guards disturbed the silence as anyone who could not hide their presence would never be given such an important duty. In a small room deep in the tower however the tension run high among the waiting ninja as Ibiki entered.

The tension came mostly from a group of five chuunins arguing loudly. They were all instructors at the Konoha ninja academy. One of them was heavily bandaged but he didn't seem to be bothered by his injuries as he loudly argued with the other four. The doctors had been unwilling to let Iruka go to the meeting but he had insisted. After having his wounds patched up they had agreed as long as he promised to keep calm. So much for that promise. He had probably been violently defending his student against the furious accusations the whole time since Ibiki last saw him. The other ninja in the room was more silent but followed the argument closely. Tree ANBU who had been on duty earlier that night were lining the walls and Hatake Kakashi, a high level Jounin where sitting in a corner. With a cough the last person present caught everyone's attention. "Well?" asked the Sandaime Hokage.

Without allowing his stone-faced expression to betray any emotion Ibiki began his report in a monotone voice. "It seems that in all points of importance Irukas story was correct." Ignoring the disbelieving scowls of the four chuunin instructors and a triumphant smirk from Iruka he continued: "Mizuki confirmed that he tricked Naruto into steeling the scroll so he could sell it. We intercepted the courier from the hidden cloud but unfortunately he managed to take poison when he realised that he could not escape."

"How sad" came a mocking voice from one of the ANBU "He must not have heard about your reputation or he would surely have stayed around to play."

Despite the serious nature of the meeting a few chuckles were heard from the ninja present. If Ibiki had not had such a good control of his features he would have smiled. Trust Anko to defuse the tense atmosphere with a few words. Anko had shown a not neglectable talent in his field but unfortunately lacked the patience to reach full mastery. Despite this she was now one of only three people in Konoha that practiced the trade with anything even close to professionalism. And the only one who was also an active field operator. However she did far better at her own chosen field and was the single best assassin Konoha had.

"Comparing Irukas and Mizukis stories" Ibiki continued "and considering the physical evidence, we have now a fair idea of what happened tonight. After stealing the scroll, Naruto went to the woods in training area 18 where Iruka found him after approximately three hours. During this time we can confirm that he managed to learn at least one forbidden jutsu as he later demonstrated his skill with the kage bunshin."

Several disbelieving snorts were heard through the room causing an angry scowl from Iruka. "Iruka learnt about Mizukis trickery from Naruto. When Mizuki showed up they fought and Iruka was wounded protecting Naruto." Ibiki continued "At this point Naruto created a large amount of kage bunshin and attacked Mizuki in defence of Iruka. This Surprised Mizuki and slowed him down but did not pose a serious threat until Azuma and Kurenai showed up. At this point Mizuki, realising that he could not fight two jounins by himself, decided that it was time to cut his losses and make a run for it covering his escape by throwing a few explosive tags at the jounin. He was as surprised as we are that he actually managed to hit them. We think that they misread the situation and expected any trouble to come from Naruto and were therefore taken by surprise. Kurenai was knocked unconscious immediately but Azuma was only lightly wounded and took up the pursuit. When they left Naruto collapsed from chakra exhaustion. Getting desperate and knowing that he had a jounin in pursuit Mizuki led him towards training area 17 where he set a trap. As you know, training area 17 is used by the demolition squads and Mizuki put an explosive tag on the ammunition depot. Azuma still a little groggy from the last explosive was caught almost in the middle of the blast and was critically wounded, but it seems that Mizuki underestimated the explosion as he too was knocked out. That was how the ANBU found them when they arrived shortly afterwards." The room went silent as Ibiki finished his report.

"Oh, and the hospital sent word that kurenai should be back in shape within a week but that Azuma will require several months of rehabilitation. They were both still unconscious as of twenty minutes ago."

"So," the Hokage spoke up when no one else said anything "from the nights adventures we have one chuunin instructor in interrogation for treason and one wounded, furthermore two jounins and one academy student in hospital with lifetreatening wounds. The two questions that we have to deal with immediately are what to do with Naruto and the two genin teams whose jounin-senseis will not be able to meet them tomorrow morning."

Unsurprisingly Iruka was first to speak up; "As for Naruto, I suggest that we make him a genin." Several people in the room started to protest but Iruka just continued "We cannot blame him for following Mizukis instructions as he was Narutos direct superior, and he failed the academy exam since he could not produce a proper bunshin. As he has proven himself capable of the more difficult kage bunshin he should be more than qualified for the genin rank."

After a moment of thought the hokage nodded silencing the protests. "I agree; that would give us three full genin teams, however, the question of how to deal with those teams remains. It is not easy to find qualified jounins that can teach with such short notice even if it is just until Azuma and Kurenai recovers. And changing senseis is not good for a newly formed genin team."

This time it was Ibiki who was first to offer a solution; "In this situation perhaps you would reconsider the proposal I gave you a few days ago?"

The whole room stared at him as they wondered what the most feared man in Konoha could be suggesting concerning genins. The hokage opened his mouth, then closed it as if considering something and then said; "I suppose that w could let you handle Azumas team. He was going to get the Ino-shika-choi trio."

The shock spread in the room as the shinobi present started to realise that the hokage was seriously thinking about having the head torturer teaching children. "No," came Ibikis voice in the chocked silence. "My team will need to be considered very carefully. If the psychology within the team is wrong it could get disastrous results. Give me a few days to observe the interactions between the candidates and I will give you a proposal, after consulting with the other jounin-senseis of course." The hokage nodded, "We would have to wait until Kurenai recovered anyway"

"Wait a minute" interrupted Iruka, "You are not seriously considering giving HIM a genin team? He regularly breaks the ANBU that are assigned to him, what do you think he would do to a genin team?"

"And those teams are carefully selected, you are not going to let him destroy them are you?" another academy instructor added.

The hokage gave them a warm smile before turning back to Ibiki. "It is decided then, but what are we doing with the genin until then?"

Hatake Kakashi who until then had been silent in a corner of the room reading a small orange book started to chuckle making every one turn towards the masked silverhaired jounin who looked up from his book and said; "Oh, I'm sure that we can keep them occupied."

oOoOo

Thus it came that several days later Ibiki, Kakashi and a heavily bandaged Kurenai were standing on a rooftop looking down on the nine genin working at the Konoha sawmill. To say that the kids had been unhappy when they had received their new task the day after graduation instead of team assignments would be an understatement, but by having the chuunin-instructors varying their workgroups, the jounins had been able to observe the interactions between the genins without being seen. Of course, Kurenai had spent most of the time in hospital and Kakashi had showed up about mid-afternoon and spent an hour or so reading before leaving again. This didn't bother Ibiki much as he considered his team.

The Uchiha massacre five years prior had left a gaping hole in the workings of the village by effectively eliminating the military police. The few non Uchiha members of the force had simply been assimilated by their civilian counterpart or the ANBU. This was mainly a good thing. The military police had been so dominated by the Uchiha that the force was practically an extension of the clan giving it a far too dominating position in the village. The civilian police force had been able to take over a lot of the investigations that they earlier had left to the Uchiha and the ANBU had, with some trouble, been expanded to handle the rest, and they did it well. However there were a few functions that they had not been able to cover and one of these was torture. Strange as it might seem, Konoha had never had a department for torture and interrogation since there was no need for it. Or in a way, the entire military police was that department. Every Uchiha was an expert in torture through their cursed bloodline, the sharingan and its genjutsu techniques. It was so easy that Konoha got lazy. When an Uchiha reached chuunin level he was introduced to the art of torture and the ninjas that could resist the sharingan where so few and far between that it was not considered worth the trouble to develop an alternative method. Thus Konoha depended on the Uchiha for torture, coincidentally solidifying the clans' position. This was abruptly changed by Itachis little family massacre and suddenly Konoha had a problem. When the village was founded, several clans had their own torture experts but with time and the stigma that came with the specialisation the secrets had been locked away and forgotten.

At the time Ibiki had been head of the "jutsu and bloodline research department" mainly focusing on espionage of what the ninjas of other villages could do. The position carried an even worse stigma than a torturer. Not because he made medical experiments on the corpses of dead enemies but because of what his predecessor Orichimaru had done in the department. Experimenting on dead enemies was OK; doing the same on live friends was not.

When the third decided to start a department for torture and interrogation he had been the logical choice because of both his success in building another department and his personal experience with torture but mainly because of his unwavering loyalty. It had worked out better than he'd expected. He found that he had a talent in the field, mainly because of his long interest in psychology. Now he had the opportunity to explore the workings of the human mind to his heart's content. In a few years he had built a small but well working unit. However the key word was small. Recruiting new members that wasn't either aphatic or bloodthirsty was near impossible. As a result the department consisted of only three members at the moment, and two of these were just part-timers. Anko was really an assassin with some basic instructions in torture. She had the skill but her deeply rooted insecurity set a firm limit for how far she could go. Her fear of taking after her old master, who had used her as a tool to cause more pain and suffering in Konoha that almost anyone else, was crippling. At least she could be sent out with the hunter-nins. The other was the head investigator of the civilian police who was a good interrogator but flatly refused to have anything to do with torture. It might work well with civilians but against ninjas it was too limited. This meant that Ibiki was Konohas only real expert in torture. It was simply not enough! Through the years he had found two promising candidates but both had died shortly after learning enough to go on active duty. The reason was simple enough; while they were good torturers they were weak fighters and without anyone to watch their back they did not survive for long. A torturer was always a target.

So.. the ANBU-captains had been told to look for potential candidates given that if you were an ANBU, you already knew how to defend yourself. Of course, over the last year or so that idea had been proven to be worthless. Ibiki doubted that _any_ ANBU had the mental stability to be a torturer and they sent him their worst headcases. Either they enjoyed causing pain or they refused to let themselves feel anything at all. In short they were the bastards that no one wanted to work with. Well, Anko worked out alright but she had reached her limit.

Now finally, after years of discussions he had been given free hands to train a torturer from scratch. He would get a genin team. Sure, it would take years to get results, but if it was done right he would get a true successor of his art and once they were two they could train a few laymen like Anko and then after another few years one of them could take another genin team. It was a simple matter of quality over quantity now that experience had shown that quantity did not work.

Once again he thought about the team he had chosen. It really was the best option. Psychologically he was taking a calculated risk, but if the gamble held true he would get the jackpot. Of course, there were alternatives that carried less risk but they would not be nearly as rewarding. Oh well, he hoped that they would survive his genin test. With a shrug he turned towards the others. "So what's your thoughts?"

Without looking up from his book Kakashi snorted, "Why play around? Just tell us what you have decided since you are going to talk us into it anyway." Kurenai nodded her agreement. "I assume that you have taken the balance of our teams as well and not just your own?" Without being obvious their expressions were so neutral that they could best be described as challenging. At the sight the master torturer started to laugh surprising the two jounins. It was a rare sight in Konoha and one few was given to witness. At least in its genuine form and not the fake he used in the torture chamber. Well, they all knew it was the truth but he did not expect them to call him on it. If they got the guts they deserved a reward. He told them the new teams.

oOoOo

"Are you certain about this?" Saturobi, the Sandaime hokage of Konoha gave Ibiki a surprised look. They were alone in his office the day before the new genin teams would be announced. "They are not exactly the ones I was expecting you too chose. You are ignoring the Uchiha, and there are several others that would probably be a better choice."

"Bloodlines are not everything. In this case the mindset is much more important. It is not like I am going to train all three of them in the art. Just one will be enough and the single most important factor in whether it will be a success or not is the teammates. Anyone in my profession needs a very stable social ground to stand on. Friends who can understand the pain that comes with the profession. And for them there are simply not any choices. The teammates cannot be exchanged. There might be other choices for my apprentice but that would unbalance the other teams."

The hokage gave Ibiki a long look before slowly nodding. "I think I understand what you mean but have you considered what is best for those teammates as well? Is it fair to put another stone on the burdens that they are already carrying?"

The master torturers face just kept its stoic expression. "Life is not fair. This way they at least will have someone to help carry their burden. If they have not broken by now they won´t in the future either. But to be on the safe side I will offer them a way out after they have gotten an understanding of what I am offering. For that purpose I will need a little different genin exam."

"You seem sure at least. Tell me about it and I will consider it. Either way you will have to deal with Iruka by yourself."

For the first time during their discussion Ibiki lost his calm as he groaned and hid his face in his hands.

oOoOo

It was a very grumpy Ino that came down to breakfast that morning. The last week had been by far the worst she could remember; she had broken three nails, had more splinters than she cared to remember, she would probably never get the sawdust out of her hair and she really didn't want to get started on some of those bruises. But the worst was definitely the muscle ache. She could feel every single muscle in her body and several of those was in places where she really should not have muscles. They had seen to it that she had not had a single night of decent sleep in the last week no matter what she did. Of course she fell asleep anyway, tired as she was, and thus she woke up every morning in a different position, stiff as a plank, and had to force her suffering limbs to move. Every step she took was a penance from hell.

At least today it was over, they would finally get their team assignments! That would have cheered he up if the chuunin who had informed them of that yesterday evening hadn't also gleefully added that this meant that their little 'vacation' was over and that they would start some 'serious training' as well as 'actually doing some real work' as genin. That made her grind her teeth. What the hell had they been doing in that fucking sawmill all week if not working? And heavy labour at that. They were bloody ninja for god's sake. Not some mindless grunts. She would have left in disgust if Sakura had not still been there. She could not give up before her after all. If there was one thing she hated it was too loose. That she would not do. Especially not to Sakura, and _especially _not in front of Sasuke. The thought of the Uchiha genius would normally have cheered he up but today it only caused her spirits to sink even lower. Today was probably the last time she would see him in a long time. Of course there was a small chance that she would end up on a team with him but she dared not let herself hope. According to the few hints that she had been able to pick up they liked to stick with what they knew worked. And as she had shown some affinity to the family jutsu that probably meant that they would get a repeat of the ino-shika-choi trio from her father's days. She would end up with the fatass and the lazy bum! She almost growled under her breath. Well, at least she would be free from the orange idiot and the bugboy. The mere thought of a team with them made her gag but she allowed herself a short daydream of Sakura in that team. No, that would be too cruel even to forehead-girl. Thinking on the pink haired girl worsened her mood even more; Sakura had a fair chance of ending up with Sasuke. If that happened she wouldn't shut up about it for years.

"Hurry up now. You don´t want to be late for your team assignment, do you?" her mother interrupted her morbid train of thought. "And for heaven's sake cheer up! It's not like you are going to interrogation or anything. Just try to be home to dinner so you can tell us all about your new team and sensei."

Muttering something unhearable Ino slowly shuffled out of the door. Seeing a pink hair some way ahead of her, her face settled into a determinated scowl. She might be depressed but she'd be damned if she let anyone find out about it, and who knows, miracles does happen. She might get on a team with Sasuke-kun…. She thought as she sped up.

oOoOo

Iruka had been teaching at the Konoha ninja academy for three years now and it was always an odd feeling to look out over a graduated class waiting for their team assignments. Pride over how far they had come, sadness that they would leave him and worry that they would go out into the harsh reality of the world out there. But this time, as he looked down at the list before him a new feeling settled into his mind; fear. It was rare that he allowed himself get so close to a student as he had gotten to Uzumaki Naruto, but he couldn´t help himself as the boy reminded him so much of the lonely kid that he had been not so long ago.

And now that kid that he had started to see as the younger brother that he never had, was being sent straight to hell. He had argued with the hokage against these new teams for hours last night but to no avail. The most sadistic and cruel ninja in Konoha was about to get his claws into Naruto. And there was nothing he could do about it. Well, it would not help to postpone it a few minutes. He loudly cleared his throat and the class immediately settled down. It was a miracle. If they could only have been that attentive in his normal lessons...

"Once again; congratulations on graduation everyone and this time you are finally going to get you team assignments. So let's get started; Team Kakashi; Inuzuka Kiba, Nara Shikamaru and Uchiha Sasuke. Next, Team Kurenai; Aburame Shino, Akimichi Choji and Haruna Sakura. Finally; Hyuga Hinata, Uzumaki Naruto and Yamanaka Ino. Your sensei will be Morino Ibiki.

The jounin senseis will meet their teams here at one. Until then you are dismissed. Go get some lunch and familiar yourselves with your teams.

Iruka stayed a while in the room looking at the reactions to the announcement. Kiba was predictably furious; the Inuzuka were well known for their pack… ehr, group mentality and he had been placed with two of the most asocial kids in the lot. Well, he always has his dog and he might get them to open up a bit. Besides he likes a challenge and the nr. 1 student would make a good rival. The children of the Ino-shika-choi trio were understandably surprised and Choji was looking longingly towards the Nara kid. Being separated from his only friend must have been a nasty surprise. Shikamaru on the other side woke up at the announcement, a clear indication of his surprise, cast a quick glance at Choji, muttered "troublesome" and went back to sleep. The Uchiha looked annoyed as usual as did, surprisingly Shino who rarely showed any emotion. Sakura and Naruto both looked disappointed while Hinata, flushing a little looked mostly uncertain. Well, no news there. In total no one was looking very happy with their team assignments. Considering that the true genin test is supposed to be about teamwork Iruka could not help but wonder how many of them he would see return to the next semesters classes. All teams split up the normal groupings in class and placed the kids with people that they normally never spoke to. With a sigh he turned and left the room. At least he hoped that Ibiki would take impression from their little 'discussion' earlier that morning.

AN/ There it is, my first attempt. Standard AU story; play around with the teams! I don't think I have seen this one before though... I hope you like it, do tell me otherwise. I have a rough plotline going past the timeskip in the manga but the chapters will be slow in coming. Thanks for taking the time to read so far, now please just take another minute to review.


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